The present invention relates to a leg protector and, in particular, to such a leg protector for use by baseball or softball catchers or umpires.
Conventional leg protectors, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, comprise a padding portion 11 being provided with a leg guard 2, a knee guard 3 and a shin guard 66 secured thereon by means of a plurality of rivets 15. The leg protector is further provided with a plurality of fastening straps 20 and buckles 21 for fitting over the leg of the user. A protecting ear 12 is protruded from the left and the right side of the bottom end of the padding portion 11 for protecting the ankle of the user. The padding portion 11 is formed of foam and the leg guard 2, knee guard 3 and shin guard 66 are injection molded from rigid plastic material. While such conventional leg protectors may protect the legs of the user from being hurt under the strong impact of the ball, the shin guards are injection molded so that their lengths and widths are not readily adjustable to fit the physical builds of the users. Although the shin guards can be made in different sizes, yet such will add difficulties to the manufacturing and assembling processes, and the users may not easily choose the right size that suits best and have to pay more to buy the protectors because of the increased manufacturing cost.
Therefore, there has been a continued need for providing a leg protector which can be easily manufactured and assembled and which can be easily adjusted in length and width to fit various physical builds of the users.